Thrawn stood on the bridge as the communications officer communicated with the pilot of the Fist. He frowned as he turned his attention to Palpatine who was standing behind him. "My Emperor, I'm sure this is a trick. A very clever trick, they even timed the hour down to the second when the shuttle went off course to get the tracking beacon back on board the Fist."
"A very clever trick indeed, Lord Vader learned his trade well in his younger years," Palpatine agreed as he hobbled forward on his cane. "I know this is a trick. I led them directly into a trap. Let them pass, I have a surprise waiting for them down in the bunker."
"My Emperor, I feel it's a mistake to let them land," Thrawn argued as Palpatine raised a trembling hand in his direction.
"Let them pass," Palpatine repeated a second time. "It will be unwise to question my orders a second time," he warned.
"Yes my Emperor," Thrawn responded as he nodded to the communication's officer. The officer relayed the clearance code as he heard Palpatine cackling behind him. He shuddered at the thought. Was he even on the right side? And what was the reason Vader suddenly switched sides. There had to be more to it then Vader switching sides. Someone or something had changed his mind.
Ahsoka closed her eyes as she sensed something dark on the Star Destroyer, it almost felt like Palpatine's signature. That couldn't be right, he should still be on Coruscant. She felt him react to her touch causing her to shy back as her eyes opened and she whispered. "Palpatine's onboard."
"What did you just say, Ahsoka?" Leia questioned as Ahsoka shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"It's a set trap," Ahsoka answered as she turned her attention to Leia. "I sensed Palpatine onboard."
"It's your imagination, Ahsoka," Han spoke up as Chewie chuffed in agreement.
"Says the one who doesn't believe in the Force," Ahsoka shot back causing Han to raise an eyebrow. "You might as well get used to it, you are dating a Force sensitive from a Force sensitive strong family."
Han didn't say a word as Leia shook her head sadly. They were waiting for the code to clear. They had met up with Anakin's personal shuttle and taken the homing beacon back onboard this one and Han spun the story on how it all played out to the crew of the Destroyer. "If they don't go for this, we'll have to make a quick escape."
"If Palpatine wants to set a trap, he'll let us land willingly," Ahsoka pointed out causing Han to glance at her with disbelief. "Don't give me that look, he enjoys setting his traps. Sometimes I think he gets a kick out of it. Thinking back, Palpatine being behind the Separatists as well as the Republic military movements does make sense. It would also explain why we were always two steps ahead of the enemy and the enemy would be two steps ahead of us. That's until we forced everything out in the open."
"Shuttle Fist, you're cleared for the far side moon of Endor, you may begin your landing," the communication's officer's voice came over the com unit. Han shot Ahsoka a look of surprise as she nodded.
Han pushed the ship towards Endor as Ahsoka sat back in her seat. Palpatine always preferred to set traps. "In the words of Anakin, it's time to spring the trap," Ahsoka muttered under her breath as Leia turned her attention to Ahsoka with a frown. "Don't worry, just be prepared for anything at this point."
Leia nodded in agreement as Han pushed the shuttle towards their landing zone.
Ahsoka walked down the ramp followed by Fress's droid Saber and Threepio. She wished she could leave Threepio behind but Anakin was insistent for them to take the droid. At times she wondered if the droid was able to grate down on his nerves just as much as the rest of them. And he designed the droid himself. She glanced at Han as he moved towards the generator's location signaling for everyone else to follow him. She patted her lightsabers and hand blaster to make sure she was armed and followed Han into the wilderness.
Fifteen minutes later Ahsoka's danger sense flared causing her to place a hand onto Han's shoulder. He glanced at her with a frown as she raised a finger warning him to keep quiet. "I sense something up a head," she whispered.
"Saber is picking up three life forms two hundred yards east from here," Threepio spoke out as Saber twittered and retracted his antenna.
"Most likely a scout," Ahsoka muttered under her breath as Han signaled for the group to fall back a bit. She crept forward along with Han, Leia, and Chewie as she saw one trooper milling about. The other two couldn't be too far behind.
"We could go around," Leia suggested as Ahsoka shook her head.
"That will take too long," Ahsoka whispered as she sensed all three. "I can handle this, just need to get a visual on the other two first."
"What do you plan to do?" Han questioned in curiosity as Ahsoka gave him a toothy grin.
"You'll see," Ahoska answered as she looked up at the trees and jumped up to the nearest solid branch. She jumped to the next nearest tree as she spotted the second trooper not too far off from the first one.
"What was that?" The first trooper asked as the second one walked towards him.
"It came from the trees, it's most likely a large animal of some sort," the second trooper answered causing Ahsoka to smirk.
"You will call in the third trooper," Ahsoka spoke out as she brushed the trooper's mind with her own as the trooper called in the third trooper. She quickly unhooked her hand blaster and switched to stun as she aimed at all three and let off three quick blasts taking them out all at once. They collapsed to the ground as she jumped down to the ground as Han and Leia entered the clearing along with Chewie and the rest of the group.
Ahsoka took the rope from the nearest crewmember as she undressed the troopers keeping her hand on the coms in the helmet. "We'll tie them up and be out of here before they wake up. We're going to use these suits to get into the bunker. Don't take your hand off the comlink or it'll stop working."
"Right," the trooper accepted the first helmet and dressed up in the armor as Ahsoka started working on the second trooper.
"I'm curious, why do we need the armor?" The trooper asked as Ahsoka finished tying up the three troopers together.
"If we run into another scout team, it'll make us look like prisoners," Ahsoka answered with a small smile. "We should get moving, time is beginning to run short."
Leia leaned into Han as the fire they were sitting near warmed them from the night's chill. She gave a contented sigh knowing the smuggler loved her. He even took up a title in the Alliance. That made her happy. Han tightened his grip around her as she snuggled in closer to him. "Tomorrow, we'll get that shield down," she glanced at Ahsoka as she cooked something over the fire. She went hunting earlier and brought back a few things to cook over the fire. She knew the Jedi had strong hunting skills due to her species.
"Ahsoka," Ahsoka glanced up with a questioning expression. "When you said Palpatine was good at laying down traps. What do you suspect to find in the bunker?"
"A legion or two of his best troops waiting for us to walk in or an inquisitor maybe," Ahsoka answered honestly as Leia nodded. "I don't sense anything dark on this planet so I suspect it would be troopers."
"We're walking into a trap?" Leia questioned as Ahsoka nodded in agreement.
"Yes we are. Is anyone hungry?" Ahsoka questioned as she took the meat off the stick and started handing out the meat in shared portions with anyone who wanted some, Chewie included.
"Is it my imagination or is there a testament of wills going on here?" Han questioned as Leia gave a small smile. "What's the point of fighting each other when you know what move the other is going to make before they make it?"
"I don't know. We don't have a choice. We have to get this done," Leia answered with a frown. "No one should be allowed to have that much power at their disposal."
"I'm not arguing with that," Han agreed as he leaned down and kissed her on top of her head. "Still, it seems like they know what the other is thinking and it's discerning."
Ahsoka glanced at Han with a frown and shook her head. "To be honest, Han. Anakin and I have been at this for a long time. We know how Palpatine thinks, it comes from years of experience of working with the man then being able to use those tactics against him or know which move he'll make before he makes it."
"I suppose," Han agreed in a lower tone.
"We'll scout for a back door," Ahsoka spoke up with a frown changing the subject. "The front will most likely be heavily guarded."
"A back door?" Han questioned with a thoughtful smile and nodded. "Sounds like a good idea to me."
"We'll leave first thing in the morning," Ahsoka spoke with a smile as Leia nodded in agreement.
Anakin stood on the bridge of the Executor as Piett issued out current orders from Admiral Ackbar. The rest of the warships Ackbar were able to get on short notice just arrived. Considering they were going against the Imperials, they decided not to use TIE fighters to keep confusion out of it. Luke walked up beside him as he turned his attention to his son. He was proud of Luke for sticking to his beliefs instead of turning to the dark side. "Are we ready?"
"We are, as soon as the signal is given, we're gone," Luke answered with a small smile as Anakin nodded in agreement. "Father, can you see Palpatine staying aboard the Death Star?"
Anakin chewed on his lower lip, he was begging to wonder about that himself. Would Palpatine stay aboard the Death Star or would he stay aboard one of the war ships in case the Alliance succeeded in blowing the Death Star up? Blew it up once, it can be blown up again. "Only if Palpatine knows he can win. If he knows it's a lost cause, he would stay aboard a war ship and leave the fight before it finishes," he paused for a second as Luke shook his head. "Han and his group should be at the bunker by now. We should board the Falcon and be ready to move soon. Admiral Piett, you have the bridge."
"Yes General," Piett acknowledged.
"This should be an interesting fight," Luke pointed out as they turned towards the entrance of the bridge. "I get to be by your side this time."
"It'll be a father and son adventure," Anakin agreed with a smile. He had this feeling Palpatine will not stay aboard the Death Star. If he did it would make things a little easier. If he didn't, he would have to face Palpatine in order to stop him for good.
Ahsoka glanced at Han and Leia as they watched the bunker. She was right about the front being a no go. It was super heavily guarded. The back door was not quite as heavily guarded. There was three guards. She glanced around wondering what they could use to distract them with.
"What is that?" Han whispered as he pointed at a small little creature walking towards a speeder and climbed on. The engines started as the guards shouted out with surprise in their tones. Two of the three guards took off as he glanced at the others. "There is only one left. Chewie and I can take care of this."
Ahsoka nodded as Han and Chewie approached the last guard. She walked up beside one of the guards that was carrying the backpacks with bombs in them. "Hand me one of the packs," she commanded as the guard handed the back pack over. She went to work raising her wrist comlink up and punched in a sequence of numbers so she would be able to detonate the bombs remotely. "You, Han and the rest of the group take care of the bunker. I have a backup plan to implement."
"What do you plan to do?" Leia questioned as Han and Chewie knocked the guard out.
"Something Anakin taught me," Ahsoka answered with a toothy grin.
"Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this?" Leia questioned as she stood up with the rest of the group and walked out into the clearing.
Ahsoka smirked as she entered the clearing spying the security holos. She kept out of line of sight and started working around the base of the bunker placing bombs in certain spots. Looking up she used the Force as a springboard and jumped up to the roof. She spotted a security holo recorder pointed at the dish itself causing her to frown. She reached out with her mind and changed the camera to a different angle as she walked towards the dish and placed more bombs in specific spots. She hit her wrist comlink as the bombs blinked once indicating they were ready to be activated.
Ahsoka made her way back to the edge of the roof just in time to watch as Han and the others were escorted out of the bunker. She shook her head as she walked towards the back end of the bunker and jumped down. She slowly made her way to the front of the bunker. She carefully made her way around allowing her to walk up behind the troopers. A commander turned in her direction as she raised her wrist. "You know the most favorite thing my master and I used to love to do during the clone wars?" She questioned as two troopers stepped towards her with blasters drawn. "Is to blow things up. You might want to duck and cover."
"Run!" The commander shouted as Ahsoka hit the activator on her wrist communicator as everyone made a mad dash for the forest as a loud bang sounded followed by a large ball of flames engulfing the dish.
Ahsoka hit her comlink alerting the Falcon it was time for them to move as a trooper took aim towards her as she unhooked her lightsabers and ignited them with a snap hiss.
"No, she is mine," a voice spoke out from behind Ahsoka as she turned towards the voice causing her to frown. The individual was holding a lightsaber in her hand. "Commander, your troopers cannot handle a fully trained Jedi."
"Who are you?" Ahsoka questioned. I thought all the inquisitors were done with at this point. Vader had taken on more and more responsibilities until he jumped ship and joined the Alliance.
"I am Tahilia," the girl answered as she walked forward. "I've been sent to track Vader down. You and Princess Leia are the next best thing to draw him out in the open with. I know of your ties to Vader, Tano as well as Leia's. Isn't that right, Princess Leia? Your father would do anything for you, wouldn't he?"
Leia shook her head as Ahsoka watched the woman. The troopers took one look at Leia and made a hasty retreat into the forest. Ahsoka had a feeling Vader's feared reputation ran deep in the Imperial navy. She smirked at Tahilia. "It looks like your army has bailed on you."
"I don't need them," Tahilia spoke as she ignited her lightsaber as Ahsoka stood at onguard gauging her opponent. She noticed the other woman was standing at a sloppy stance. Either it was a ploy or she barely had any lightsaber training. She's come across many inquisitors that were sloppy and ill trained in the ways of the Force. It appeared Vader gave basic training and that was it.
Tahilia ran forward as Ahsoka intercepted the other's blade with ease. She pushed the blade back with hers as she used the Force to push Tahilia up against a tree and held her there. She shook her head sadly. "Let me guess, you just started your Force training?"
"Let me go," Tahilia commanded as Ahsoka smirked as she dropped Tahilia to the ground and used the Force to pull the lightsaber out of the woman's hand. She felt the handle land solidly in her grip as she pointed her blade at Tahilias throat as the woman looked up with fear in her eyes.
"This is how it's going to go," Ahsoka explained as Han stepped forward with a pair of stun cuffs in his hands. "Han is going to hand cuff you and we're going to take you back to have a chat with Vader. Maybe he can help you see the light."
Tahilia looked at Ahsoka with fear in her eyes at the mere mention of Vader's name. She had nothing to fear. Anakin was back in his right mind and was fair with his punishments.
Thanks for reading :)